OCR awards the first 13 conditional commercial cultivation licenses
The Office of Cannabis Regulation published merit scores for 13 conditional Commercial Cannabis Cultivation Licenses on October 16, 2025 — seven on St. Croix, five on St. Thomas, and one on St. John — then added one more St. Croix award on January 13, 2026.
· Updated April 12, 2026
October 16, 2025. The Office of Cannabis Regulation published the merit-based scores for the first round of conditional Commercial Cannabis Cultivation License awards. Thirteen applicants cleared the review under Section 777-12 of the 2024 Cannabis Rules and Regulations, filling roughly a third of the 35-license territorial cap set in § 787 of title 19. Seven of the 13 are on St. Croix, five on St. Thomas, and one on St. John. A 14th conditional license, 340 High Grade LLC on St. Croix, was added in a supplementary notice dated January 13, 2026 and published February 24, 2026.
St. Croix — 7 awards in the first round, 8 after January 13
| # | Applicant | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Virgin Herb LLC | 995 |
| 2 | Virgin Cannabis Co., LLC | 985 |
| 3 | The Harmony Collective | 980 |
| 4 | Alchemy Labs | 975 |
| 5 | Loud Bhang Farms LLC | 940 |
| 6 | Shoys Growers | 815 |
| 7 | MDC Cultivation | 740 |
| 8 (Jan 13, 2026) | 340 High Grade LLC | 850 |
St. John — 1 award
| # | Applicant | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | TDD LLC | 800 |
St. Thomas — 5 awards
| # | Applicant | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fyah Burn Production LLC | 1,000 |
| 2 | Nature Nurse VI Ltd. | 1,000 |
| 3 | Island Time Solutions LLC | 840 |
| 4 | Natural Mystic Solutions | 720 |
| 5 | Ras Bobby Herbal Products LLC | 665 |
Vertical integration within three separate markets
Five of the cultivation awardees are operators already holding conditional Cannabis Dispensary Licenses on their own island: The Harmony Collective on St. Croix, TDD LLC on St. John, and Fyah Burn Production LLC, Nature Nurse, and Ras Bobby Herbal Products LLC on St. Thomas. Each of them is now positioned to grow product and sell it through its own retail footprint without relying on another cultivator.
This vertical alignment sits inside, not against, the inter-island transport prohibition at § 777(a)(4) of the Virgin Islands Cannabis Use Act. A Harmony Collective plant grown in Christiansted may end up on a Harmony Collective dispensary shelf in Christiansted. It cannot cross the 40-mile stretch of water to a Fyah Burn shelf in Charlotte Amalie. St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John remain three legally separate markets, and the cultivation round reinforces that separation: the St. John market has exactly one cultivator, Fyah Burn and Nature Nurse can cover their own retail on St. Thomas at maximum merit scores, and the seven St. Croix cultivators have to sell into whatever dispensaries open on their island.
Section 777-12 and Section 777-15
Commercial cultivation applications are scored under Section 777-12 of the 2024 Cannabis Rules and Regulations, a rubric distinct from the Section 777-15 process that scored the January 16, 2026 dispensary round. Both are merit-based 1,000-point frameworks, but the application components and weightings differ between the two license types. The October 16, 2025 notice cites Act 8680 directly without the “as amended by Act 8925” qualifier the dispensary notice uses.
What “conditional” means here
Conditional approval does not authorize anyone to plant cannabis. Each awardee must complete build-out, pass Office of Cannabis Regulation inspection, satisfy the testing-facility requirement, and receive a Certificate to Operate before any commercial cultivation is lawful. Executive Director Joanne Moorehead told the Cannabis Advisory Board on February 12, 2026 that the Office of Cannabis Regulation had completed status meetings with all 14 cultivators and that at least one to two operators on St. Thomas and St. Croix were expected to begin cultivation within four to six weeks of that meeting.
What to watch
The 35-license territorial cap leaves 21 commercial cultivation slots still open. A new application round is projected to reopen in June 2026 per Moorehead’s March 13 statement to the Virgin Islands Consortium. The grow operator guide covers the Section 777-12 merit rubric and the build-out requirements every conditional holder must complete before commercial planting can begin.